After a downpour of biblical proportions on Saturday evening, The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China saw bright sunshine the following day at the Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit.
This made the combination of heat and humidity a major factor for the riders to deal with at the 19th round of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championships, which saw both red plate holders strengthen their position before the final round of the season.
The MXGP class was dominated by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, with solid starts in both races being backed up by his incredible stamina to hold off late charges both times from Tim Gajser, who took second overall, while Ruben Fernandez completed a Honda HRC double podium with a fighting third place in race two.
In the MX2 class, Sacha Coenen broke the run of victories by the title contenders with his second GP win of the season for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, who celebrated a podium clean sweep with race two winner Andrea Adamo taking second ahead of championship leader Simon Längenfelder, who increased his series lead to 16 points with one round to go.
The intense conditions made The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China one of the toughest races of the year, but the riders still gave their all with some incredible racing in both classes, and a huge gain for one title contender in particular.
Herlings continued his domination from the qualifying race to post the fastest time in morning warm-up, half a second quicker than Tim Gajser, as Calvin Vlaanderen got into the top three for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.
For the first time this year, Maxime Renaux took the holeshot for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, with Herlings giving chase ahead of the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP duo of Pauls Jonass and Romain Febvre, although Gajser was rapidly on the move and moved up to third by the end of the first full lap.
For championship challenger Lucas Coenen, it was a tough start to what would be a very tough race, as he went through the first sector of the track in 12th place on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine.
He quickly made a sequence of passes, however, to fight his way into eighth place, amazingly finding his title rival Febvre right in front of him after the Frenchman made a few errors to slip back into the Belgian’s crosshairs.
Fernandez had tucked into fifth, behind Jonass and ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff, whose Fantic Factory Racing MXGP team-mate Andrea Bonacorsi was ninth behind the two title combatants, while Jeremy Seewer started well in tenth for Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team.
Coldenhoff made a slight mistake after the wave section and suddenly the top two riders in the championship went either side of the Dutchman, who was closing in on clinching third in the series this weekend.
Coenen looked ready to make a move on Febvre, but was never quite able to pull the trigger, and his target started to disappear as the Kawasaki man re-grouped to pass Fernandez for fifth on lap six.
Frenchman Renaux was setting a steady pace out front, but Herlings and Gajser kept him in sight.
However, Coenen suddenly seemed to hit a physical wall and dropped behind first Coldenhoff, then Bonacorsi, to finish lap 11 in ninth place. That’s where he would finish, ahead of Vlaanderen, who had passed Seewer on lap 12 to secure a top ten result.
Jonass made a mistake to slip to sixth on lap 13, still his best result since returning from injury, while the Fantic men took seventh and eighth, Coldenhoff keeping Bonacorsi behind him despite a couple of passing attempts from the Italian
Herlings put in an incredible late charge to close up on Renaux, attacking the Frenchman in both of the two corners before the finish line straight, before firing past up the start straight to make the race his own.
Gajser followed him through on the penultimate lap, but both riders scored their best results since their early season injuries. Febvre stayed ahead of Fernandez for fourth, stretching his lead over Coenen to 36 points.
The teenage Belgian looked to have got himself into a stronger position as he challenged for the holeshot, which ultimately went to Gajser, at the start of race two.
However, Lucas lost the front wheel in the second corner and had to restart a long way behind the very back of the pack. Renaux also got caught up in the incident, but was able to get going again with riders directly in front of him.
Just as Coenen hit the deck, Herlings was able to fire to the inside of Gajser to take the early lead, with Febvre third ahead of Fernandez. Sadly for Jonass, he fell on the exit of the third corner, remounting just ahead of Coenen as they chased after the pack in tandem.
Vlaanderen picked up the baton in fifth ahead of Bonacorsi and Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team rider Mattia Guadagnini.
He was passed on lap two by the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Jago Geerts, while Ben Watson started ninth on the MRT Racing Team Beta, with Coldenhoff in tenth, until he passed the Brit on lap three.
Herlings powered away at the front, setting the Acerbis Fastest Lap on lap two, although Gajser latched onto his tail and kept him in site.
Fernandez, meanwhile, sensing that Febvre was unlikely to push to the limit with the title on the line, launched an aggressive attack on the series leader and pushed past him on the final corner of the circuit at the end of lap four.
Coenen was unable to climb any higher than 14th, while Jonass got up to 12th at the flag, good enough for ninth overall ahead of Geerts, who put a strong pass on Bonacorsi to finish seventh in race two.
The two Fantic riders finished together again, but this time the Italian was eighth ahead of Coldenhoff, with Guadagnini taking tenth at the flag.
Renaux was able to put on a great charge through the pack to take sixth at the flag, one point away from a podium finish, taking fifth overall ahead of Vlaanderen, Bonacorsi, and Coldenhoff in eighth.
This result was good enough to clinch third in the championship for the Dutch veteran, matching his career best Championship finish from 2019.
Febvre, meanwhile, closed in on the medal they all want, the gold one, with fourth overall taking him 47 points away from Coenen as they head to the final round in Australia.
Third overall for Fernandez was the Spaniard’s third podium of the year, but Gajser pushed to the very end of the race in an effort to take the GP victory away from Herlings.
The Slovenian finished just seven-tenths of a second behind to take second overall, his first podium since his return from his early season shoulder injury. The effort from Gajser was acknowledged by Herlings in animated conversation on the podium.
As for Herlings, he recorded his 112th Grand Prix victory, moved past Vlaanderen into fifth in the championship, and now sits only 17 points behind Fernandez for fourth.
It was another incredible effort in conditions he freely confesses to despising.
The final round in Australia promises to be even hotter in many ways.
Jeffrey Herlings: “I did it, but honestly right now I feel like a chicken that’s been on the barbecue for an hour. The heat was so tough.
“Coming from Holland, I’m not used to these conditions, back home it was 12–13 degrees, and then here it’s just shocking. Carrying the speed was okay, but the heat really got to me. Tim [Gajser] pressured me the whole weekend, every race, and it wasn’t easy at all.
“Maybe it looked simple, but this was one of the hardest ones for me to win. To make it three GP wins in a row after only six weeks back on the bike, I’m really happy with that. It just shows how stacked the field is, even with fewer riders on the gate, the quality is still really high.”
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LEADING RESULTS & STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 19:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:38.944; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.502; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.815; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.205; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:34.804; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:37.896; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:38.977; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:41.285; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:56.713; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +1:01.210.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:31.201; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:00.605; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:28.530; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:39.495; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:42.100; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:48.197; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:54.961; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +1:01.411; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +1:03.499; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Ducati), +1:05.885.
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 44 p.; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 36 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 35 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 27 p.; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 26 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 26 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 24 p.; 10. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 20 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 929 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 882 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 665 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 599 p.; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 582 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 560 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 525 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 508 p.; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 464 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 368 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:01.661; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:07.865; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:15.303; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:34.955; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:43.950; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:49.201; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:59.168; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:02.290; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.332; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:23.452.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 33:59.017; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:03.294; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:24.322; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:29.759; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:31.284; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:50.788; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:58.789; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:05.116; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:28.396; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:32.029.
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 45 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 30 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 7. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 28 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 26 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 25 p.; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 22 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 884 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 868 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 817 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 756 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 612 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 606 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 603 p.; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 461 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 447 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 434 p.